Omaha daily bee., 1887-12-13

Of the ethical side of MIR. Dorsey's char
acter without noticing the display he
makes of himself im connection with the
Una DE GIato grant what | said on that
| subject in my article.
1.-The area Of this grant. according To
Mr.. Dorsey, its claimant. was nearly
| 600 600 acres. II was reserved from set
| tlement. and is so reserved to-day by
the act OF 1854: but when the forgery VI
! the grant was demonstrated in 1879.
| and he thought il unsafe TO rely upon
that title he determined to avail him
| self Of the homestead and pre-emptiop
| laws. This he could not legally do be-
cause the land was reserved. but the
| commissioner OF the general land office
| was touched by his misfortune. and in
defiance of law ordered the land to be
surveyed and opened to settlement. Mr..
| Dorsey, who was already in possession
Of thousands of acres OF choice lands in
| the tract. ut once sent out his squads OF
| henchmen, who availcd themselves Of
the forms OF the pre-cmption and home-
stead laws in acquiring pretended titles,
which were conveyed to him according
70 arrangements previously agreed
| upon. No record of this unauthorized
action of the commissioner is TO be
| found in the land Office. What was
done was done verbally. and in the
dark. and nothing is now known of the
transaction but the fact of its occur
renee: and the intimate relations ,hen
existing between Mr.. Dorsey and the
commissioner and his chief of surveys.
or course. he and his associates in this
business have no title to the lands thus
| acquired. and their entries should be
cancelled, not only because the land
was reserved from sale by act OF con-
| gress. but because these entries were
fraudulently made. as will he shown Ivy
| Investigations now in progress"
| These are exactly the facts as shown
| by official documents. Now. how does
Mr.. Dorsey answer me? Upon investi-
eating the title OF this grant. he says
he became satisfied that it was fraudu
lent. When did he make this investi-
cation. and reach this conclusion? The
records of my Office and of the interior
department gives no answer to the
| question. They do not show that he
even made an investigation. but the
contrary. He says he wrote to the Hon.
Carl Schurz. then secretary of the in
terror. stating circumstantially all the
| facts in his possession regarding the
| grant, and asked him to send Il special
agent to make a careful investigation,
and turned over to the secretary all the
papers in his possession. Unfortunately
for Mr.. Dorsey, these statements are un-
supported by the records of the land de-
partmant. and contradlcted by them.
They show that he persisted in
his claim for wears following
the first agitation of the
| validity OF his title. and up to January.
1879. when the forgery of the grant was
demonstrated. He did nothing what
ever in investigating the inquiry which
led to this demonstration. which in
ouiry was set ON foot bv Lewis Kinrman
and Henry Nj. Arms. in the wear 1877.
The papers show that he was much dis
pleased with their intermeddlinr with
his title: and that it was solely at the
instance of these men that the land Of
flee directed that an investigation to be
made. In the light of these facts the
reader can judge for himself as to Mr..
Dorsey reverence for the truth. when
he says. 81 exposed the fraudulent ma
ture of the grant with which Mr.. Julian
attempts to link my name mfavoiably."
The audacity of this statement is fasci-
mating. 1t is charmingly satanic. and it
settles the fact that Mr.. Dorsey, in his
way. is genius.
But he saws that he applied to the
secretary of the interior to have the
lands within the bounds of this fraudu-
lent grant thrown open for settlement.
| anc that IL was done accordingly. Ihls
is what said in my article; but stated
further, that the land department had
no power to do this. One surveyor
general had pronounced the grant valid
and another had declared it it to be
forgery. Congress alone could deter
mi lie the question, and the land was alb
solutely reserved by law in the mean.
time. Secretary Schurz and commits.
sloner Williamson knew this perfectly
and for this reason, doubtless, no writ
ten order for the survey and sale of these
lands was made, and the business was
done 'in the dark"
When such man wanted the repub.
lican officials of the land departmcn,
to violate the laws to enable him to ap-
propriate a large body of public lands
in fmtherance of his capacity
they did not dare saw no and the
robbery was done" Mr.. Dorsey knows
all this, but makes no defense. He ad.
mits the action of the land department
in response to his request, but stand.
mute as to its illegality. He knows. and
so do Carl Schurz and ], A, Williamson
that that action was totally unauthorized
and snenl,inply performed. and that Tho
| I,,l, ,,nn;,,oj h., III, ,,d ~; MT,